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| 1 Twining vines (orange, yellow, or greenish); leaves reduced to scales |
| 1 Shrubs or trees; leaves present and well-developed. |
| ..2 Leaves deciduous; flowers unisexual; [tribe Laureae]. |
....3 Some of the leaves with 1-2 (-5) rounded lobes; small to medium trees |
| ....3 None of the leaves lobed; medium to large shrubs. |
| ......4 Leaves 4-16 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, obovate, ovate, or broadly elliptic |
| ......4 Leaves 1.2-4 cm long, 0.5-1.5 (-1.9) cm wide, narrowly elliptic |
| ..2 Leaves evergreen; flowers bisexual; [tribe Perseeae]. |
| ........5 Leaf surfaces glabrous, bright green; leaf venation 3-nerved from at or near the base of the blade; crushed leaves with the odor of camphor |
| ..........6 Leaves with 3 parallel veins (these with 0-2 obvious lateral veins); principal vein axils with yellow, thickened, and pubescent domatia on the lower surface of the leaf; buds with bud scales |
| ..........6 Leaves pinnately veined (the 2 lateral veins with obvious and 3 or more lateral veins); principal vein axils lacking domatia; buds lacking bud scales |
| ........5 Leaf surfaces pubescent to glabrate or glabrous, dark to medium green; leaf venation strongly pinnate; principal vein axils lacking yellow domatia; crushed fresh leaves with the odor of bay. |
| ............ 7 Leaves mostly more than 15 cm long; drupe > 5 cm long |
| ............ 7 Leaves less than 15 cm long; drupe < 3 cm long. |
| ............ ..8 Leaf lower surface moderately to densely pubescent with ascending or appressed hairs (in some species these so appressed or small as to need 10× magnification to reliably detect); fruiting pedicel and cupule remaining tan or turning somewhat reddish; [collectively widespread in the Coastal Plain and rarely more inland provinces] |
| ............ ..8 Leaf lower surface glabrous; fruiting cupule and/or pedicel turning bright red at maturity; [of s. peninsular FL only]. |
| ............ ....9 Fruiting cupule not flanged; fertile stamens 9 (+ 3 glandular staminodes), the anthers 4-celled |
| ............ ....9 Fruiting cupule with a prominent circumferential flange near the rim; fertile stamens 3 (+ 3 glandular staminodes), the anthers 2-celled |